my wife’s uncle has a place on Martha’s Vineyard
there is apparently a bathroom stubbed out ( waters & waste ) and he would like someone to finish it
assume it has to do w/ water usage & waste issues but this bathroom will somehow provide for the use / makings of one more bdrm that is beyond their legal limit consequently he does not want to involve locals
it is a very remote sight and the neighbors will not mind
email me if you are interested and I can get you in touch w/ owner to get conversation rolling John
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You aren't suggesting that there might be a tail light contractor here willing to do a little under the table maybe slightly illegal job outside his normal stomping grounds, are ya?
I imagine yours might be one of the milder responses I receivejust looking in the tavern and saw something of moral / ethical dilemma
maybe an appropriate category for this one
No Dilema at all - It's clearly unethical. The local powers that be have forbid this type of renovation so it flatly can't be done. It's breaking the law to do it and anyone that you get involved along with you stands to loose their license,...etc. In many locations any remodeling done without the proper permits that involves potable water and or electricity, which this would be both probably is a felony, although I haven't heard of many prosecutions. Given all that, I do a fair amount of work on barrier islands in southern New Jersey, and I own a vacation home on one, so I suspect that the stringent restrictions you are dealing with up in MV are related to the cost of water and also the capacity of any sewerage system. Remember, homes are usually rated by the number of bedrooms, not bathrooms, so it might be possible, given the remoteness of the location it likely is on septic to increase the septic system capacity - probably about a $15,000 job, maybe more. The reason for the restrictions probably have to do with over development, likely by massive second homes. We renovated our home about 15 years ago. 90% of what we did then legally and with permits couldn't be done now without numerous variances, which likely wouldn't be granted. I too resent the overconstruction that has resulted in these restrictions but on the other hand I never acted to try to stop it and was infact an active participant. Like me I'm sure the home you are talking about up there is worth many many times it's original value, as a result of this high-end over development.
john.. i'd think the issue is not the bathroom, but the bedroom...your uncle should make some discrete inquiries and see if he can do this on the up & up..
in the end , he'll be better off..
if it was stubbed and inspected, he probably has the right to finish it
interesting you guys bring this up / didn't notice any big black helicopters in the sky
just returned from two week jaunt to Vermont and on to Gloucester then Boston ( was going to call the diesel but only there overnight & had family to spend that short time with ) and due to the family activities ran into that uncle ( subject of MV didn't come up ) and his son who runs the MV house / operation and asked him if he had contacted the people who had responded and his father had never passed on the info nor did it seem to be something he cared to pursueso apologies to those solicited and I very much appreciate your feedback Mike and hope I'm close Haineswoodworker ( ? )definitely gray areas here - my total ignorance of the situation and my wife's uncle not knowing the questions to ask nor the building code; hoped for a meeting of minds and a potential resolution